Restorations and Reconciliations: Stories of Finding God’s Love and Forgiveness

Everyone messes up from time to time, probably more often than we care to admit. I try to make a joke at lunch and end up hurting someone’s feeling. The prank you play on your friend goes awry and she winds up needing stitches. I fail to give my full attention to driving and cause a fender bender.

Mistakes make us feel foolish, and they cost us something. We may have to humble ourselves and apologize or make restitution. We may be assaulted with thoughts such as “I’m the world’s biggest idiot” and “How could I have been so stupid?” However, we typically forgive ourselves for our blunders quickly and move on. Unless…

Unless the mistake has larger consequences. Unless the mistake results not in embarrassment or damage that is easily repaired, but rather in broken lives and broken relationships. Such as the mistake Karen Harper made.

Restorations is the story of Karen Harper’s journey to find forgiveness and a second chance at love after turning her back on God and damaging her most important relationships. It’s been two years since her husband’s death. Karen knows that he would still be alive if she hadn’t…well it’s just too painful to think about. Karen knew her actions were wrong but she never imagined the pain they would cause. Hoping to escape her past, Karen moves to Fredericksburg with her three sons.

She has a new job that she loves and she’s dating Kevin, a man she met on the Internet. Although Karen thinks Kevin may be “the one,” her oldest son, Trevor, hates him. Of course, Trevor hates everything these days and he barely speaks to Karen. He blames her for everything that’s wrong in his life.

When the nightmares start, she realizes she will have to deal with her past and forgive herself for her mistakes before she can hope to move forward with her life. As Karen allows God back into her life, she finds the forgiveness she desperately needs. Then God begins the work of restoring the broken relationships in her life.

In contrast to Karen Harper, Kevin Peterson hasn’t made any big mistakes in his life. He knows he’s not perfect, but by almost anyone’s standards, he’s a pretty good guy. He’s an honest car salesman, a loving son, and a loyal friend. Kevin is doing just fine without religion or God in his life.

In Reconciliations, God shakes up Kevin’s life to show him his need for a Savior. Kevin has to learn that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and that no one can ever be “good enough” on their own.

Kevin’s life is going along pretty well except that he’s been unlucky in love. Christine, his ex-wife, left him three years ago after he caught her with another man in his bed. He dated Karen Harper for a while until she got religious. Religion might have helped Karen deal with her past, but Kevin wanted no part of it. He’s glad to have both women out of his life.

With a single phone call, God brings both women back into Kevin’s life. This is more than Kevin can handle. He needs help. It arrives in the form of Pastor Mark Vinson. As Kevin spends time with Mark, and members of his congregation, he begins to see himself in a new light. And he doesn’t like what he sees.

When Kevin admits that he, too, is a sinner, he is finally ready to be reconciled with God.

Karen and Kevin acknowledged their errors and confessed them to God, and they accepted His forgiveness of their sins. When they did, they found peace and hope.

You’ve made mistakes, too. We all have. Perhaps, like Kevin, you’ve been able to brush your mistakes aside and convince yourself that you are one of the good guys, but you know deep inside that you can never be good enough. Or maybe, like Karen, you cannot escape your mistakes; they haunt you day by day and make you feel worthless.

It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to ignore your mistakes or be troubled by them. Remember there is hope. You have another option. You can confess your sins to God and accept His forgiveness. Then you, too, can have true peace and the hope that God has great plans for your life.